Original subtitles

- It is Seth Rollins going one on one with his former mentor,

Triple H.

- Their rivalry was one of those art imitating life

sort of things.

Triple H signed Seth, developed Seth.

- And Rollins taking a chance.

- Seth wouldn't just be pushed into a corner.

He fought to do things his way.

- I came here to do what I do best-

Turn the place upside down.

- I pulled him aside, and was like,

"I need to know right [bleep] now,

you either get on this program, or you're done."

I'm gonna keep going until I destroy what I created.

- I thought, go [bleep] yourself.

I gave up everything to stand next to you.

And for what?

- You have this epic battle, which is old as time itself.

- And here comes Rollins

- There's a real relationship there, real pain.

And that comes across on camera.

For Triple H, it's about destroying Rollins,

destroying his career.

- If you're hell bent on making things difficult-

- We're done, we're done.

- You're outta line.

- So much animosity in this awesome rivalry.

- When two legends collide,

their rivalry stays pinned in our minds forever.

This is where we break down the legendary stories

behind the greatest rivalries of all time.

I'm Gabriel Iglesias

and this is

WWE rivals.

- Seth Rollins, get your ass to this ring

and meet your destroyer.

- Triple H versus Seth Rollins.

The blurring of the lines.

The student and the mentor.

- When you think about Seth Rollins and Triple H,

the first thing that comes to mind is they're both,

pardon the pun-

They're both students of the game.

- I'm calling your ass out

right now Triple H.

- It's just a storyline that always happens,

and it's the greatest thing ever,

because you're gonna have a prized student,

you're going to have the old master,

and eventually they're going to have to fight each other.

- Hopefully.

I don't know, but-

- Oh, yeah, that's good.

Mean, mean, That's the way to do it.

- Oh.

I've been a WWE fan my entire life.

- One, two, three.

- I was a Hulkamaniac as a kid

and then really fell in love again

with wrestling during the Attitude ERA.

- D-Generation X, Triple H.

- D-Generation X, if anything,

are becoming more degenerate with every week.

- I got two words for you.

[crowd "Suck it"]

- I spent many afternoon in detention

for wandering around the halls telling everyone to "Suck it."

Uh, as I'm sure a lot of young men my age did,

and Triple H was a huge part of that.

- Triple H with a Pedigree.

[crowd cheers]

- Man.

I mean, he was the anchor of DX

and all of its different incarnations over the years.

- Oh, really?

- Go this way.

- And so he was a guy that I always looked up to.

- You guys talk about being students of the game.

I am The [bleep] Game.

- And then when he branched out on his own and became The Game

and one of the biggest stars in the history of our industry,

- Triple H has realized his dream.

It's all about Triple H.

- I had a lot of mixed emotions, you know.

I think I always respected Triple H,

but I think as a kid there was always a part of me

that-that hated him.

That wanted somebody to kick his ass.

Which is probably what he was going for.

- This is not what you need, more guys angry at you.

- A lot of people dislike me,

but I don't give a [bleep].

So why let it bother me, you know?

You can't have a good guy without the evil guy.

- But when you say WWE, Triple H,

they're synonymous with each other.

- And The Game has won the World Title for a 10th time.

- Look at Triple H over his career.

He's that good

that he can keep himself as one of the greatest guys

that's ever been in the business,

but he's also made guy after guy after guy.

- He's a kingmaker.

- That's right, a kingmaker,

because they are kings.

They're not just guys that make it on the roster.

These are guys who make it to the top.

- Evolution on top of the world.

- I mean, the stuff he did with Evolution,

you know, he made Batista, he made Randy.

You know, that's been his role for a long time here.

- They're all Champions.

All of Evolution.

All of us have been there where that guy takes you

from that mediocre place to when you come through the curtain

and you're like,

[exhales]

like, "Oh, that's what it's like."

And you don't forget those people.

- I'm always trying to take talent to another level

because I see the other side of it,

and I know what comes out of it and where you'll land.

And if you just listen to me, I can help you.

- Triple H has a story in the WWE

like nobody else that's ever existed.

As Triple H got to the top of the heap

in terms of active superstars,

him and Stephanie McMahon, the boss's daughter,

ended up getting married.

Flash forward all the way to Triple H's career as

a superstar / executive,

he was the guy that started creating

the WWE's developmental system, NXT.

Shaping the superstars that would become the top members

of the WWE roster in the future.

- The opportunity here is massive, but

It's all on you.

How much do you want it?

- From what I've learned about Triple H in his early years,

you know, he wanted to learn every single thing

that he could about the industry.

And I feel like we saw that a lot with Seth Rollins.

It's almost like they're both so stubborn

and trying to just make it.

- I first met Seth, some small town for, uh

independent wrestling show we were doing together.

I knew right then that he was a fantastic athlete,

really great performer.

- Oh ho.

- It's all I really decided I wanted to do.

I didn't really have any other career choices.

- So we kick off NXT with a much anticipated Seth Rollins.

Rollins is a very hot prospect.

- Even though WWE wasn't offering the world at the time,

they were offering an opportunity for me,

and I didn't really want to be anywhere else.

I was going to take my shot in WWE.

- Are you more reserved?

- Nah, I'm not reserved at all.

- All right, so definitely bring that out.

I want to see that on those eyes.

- I came here to NXT to do what I do best.

Turn the place upside down and change the world.

- NXT that's where this rivalry started,

because Seth Rollins was really like a stallion

that almost needed to be broken.

- Right.

- He was someone who wouldn't just be pushed into a corner.

"All right, this is the performer you need to be.

So let's shave off your edges."

Like, no he fought to do things his way.

- All I wanted was growth.

I wanted to be on WWE television.

I wanted to be on Raw.

I wanted to be on SmackDown.

I knew I had a lot to offer to the main roster,

and I was not afraid to speak out,

kind of ruffle some feathers occasionally,

and um some of those feathers that I ruffled

happened to belong to the Red Rooster himself, Terry Taylor.

Terry was a good friend of Triple H,

and Triple H brought Terry Taylor in to help

kind of groom the top talent.

- Seth was a frustrated, angry young man,

that wanted it all and he wanted it now.

Triple H was getting ready to get Seth

and call him up to the main roster,

and I said "He's not ready. He's immature."

- I remember thinking like,

"This kid is going to go up to Raw or to SmackDown.

He's going to [bleep] this whole thing up

because he can't get out of his own way."

So I pulled him aside at NXT sat down with him in the corner

and was like, "I am two seconds away

from pulling you out of this whole thing.

I need to know right now.

You either get on this program or

you can go tell me how great you are someplace else."

- He told me point blank.

He didn't see anything special in me

and that I wasn't who I thought I was,

essentially.

- Um,

How honest you want me to be here?

I thought, go [bleep] yourself.

That's what I thought.

I've always been supremely confident in my own ability,

and I didn't really care who he was in that moment.

And there was nobody that was going to tell me who I was

or how special I was or wasn't.

It was something that frustrated me,

but it also very much lit a fire under me,

and I was going to find a way to make sure

that he knew how good I was.

- And Rollins taking a chance.

- Seth Rollins was already an A level guy in ring,

but I think Triple H also noticed Seth's

passion for this industry.

Seth Rollins is a guy who lives and breathes this.

- Tonight we will crown the first ever NXT champion.

- To his credit, he flipped a switch

and just started to work "with."

Like, I could see where he could be so successful,

and you're trying so hard so get him there.

[bell rings]

- Seth Rollins has become the first NXT champion.

- It doesn't get any bigger

than an endorsement from the COO.

- What an amazing show of respect.

- Aw, it meant everything to me.

When you look back at that moment

and what got us to that moment,

it becomes deeper in a sense.

It felt like we had jumped over some hurdles.

- What a moment for a man who dared to be different.

- When we put the NXT title on him,

it was a big deal for everybody.

They saw this as this incredible moment of like,

"Oh my God, this is going to be the first one."

So there was a ton of people in this business asking me,

"Why are you doing it with him?"

Because that was my call.

"I get how talented he is,

but he's the biggest problem we have.

Don't do it with him."

- The era of Seth Rollins has begun.

- So I said, "All right, this is over right now.

I'm going to forget about it,

and we're going to go do business together.

Don't make me sorry."

- Rollins with the ground count.

Rollins with the cover.

[bell rings]

[crowd cheers]

- In 2012, Seth Rollins became the first NXT champion.

- How often are you right about that's the guy, that's the girl.

That's who it is.

Ah Seth's the one

Seth's the one.

Like, just a really smart, educated outlook,

that Hunter had on plucking him in the first place.

- And later on that year,

the birth of one of the greatest factions

of all time The Shield came to be.

- This Ryback is unstoppable.

- Oh God.

- Ryback's unbelievable.

- Oh my God.

- What in the world

What is this?

- Who the?

What the?

- Dean Ambrose.

- Seth Rollins.

- Roman Reigns.

Welcome to The Shield of Justice.

- Seth Rollins and The Shield

get called up to the WWE main roster.

Three superstars that the WWE audience

was totally unfamiliar with,

but from the time that they got into the squared circle,

they commanded fans attention.

- I was in the locker room as The Shield is building,

and there was such jealousy.

- They destroyed everybody.

- They destroyed every-

and they're just building, and they're building,

and they're building.

- This pack of dog mentality.

The three on one assault.

- Not a lot of people get to experience the rise that we did.

- It's reckless abandon.

I've never seen anything like this group.

- We have a duty.

We have to serve justice.

And we will do it swiftly and without mercy.

- Man, they came in here and just

tore it up and went to town.

They were given the opportunity to step up to the plate

and they took their shot.

- In 2013, Paul and I came back as The Authority,

really, the authority figures in WWE.

We're the bad bosses,

We're the people who are treating our-our employees

and our talent terribly, you know, just to-

to make a profit for ourselves.

With my power and support

Triple H is the WWE.

- Triple H was always a really interesting authority figure

because on screen we got to see him play this villainous,

power hungry person in charge.

But in reality, we also knew that he was a person in charge.

- I became The Authority here

knowing what I would have to endure with that role

because nobody likes the boss.

Don't make me take this tie off and come out here.

I've got a sledgehammer under this desk,

and I'm not afraid to use it all right?

I'm an executive on the edge people.

- The Authority actually blurred the lines because, of course,

you wonder how much is reality and how much is storyline.

And it was thought provoking in a lot of ways.

- People don't really know what's real, what's not.

Where does it stop?

Where does it doesn't?

It's just to me, that's a wonderful thing to have happen

to a show where people don't really know what's real

and what isn't.

- Seth Rollins says our case is to fight injustice,

and there's no bigger injustice than The Authority.

- So when you've got three studs, the caliber of Reigns,

Rollins and Ambrose, it's only natural

that on a long enough timeline,

they're going to collide with the old guard,

the establishment, so to speak.

And that's what you had in Triple H,

Randy Orton and Batista.

A dominant faction from yesteryear who weren't ready

to be done ruling the roost.

And The Shield was basically looking

to put them out to pasture.

- You see, the thing is, this Shield,

I brought you into this world,

and you are looking at the three guys

that are going to take you out of it.

- Evolution versus the Shield was a huge test.

- The Shield thinks that they're the new Evolution,

and there's just one problem with that.

- The problem is we're still here.

- To be matched up with them,

it was like "Yeah you've handled everybody

in your own generation but now it's time to-

can you rise to the star power like the elite level

that is these three guys?"

- This is going to be a collision.

The Shield versus Evolution.

- This is about where you sit in history.

[bell rings]

- Who is the greatest faction of all time?

- I love those passing of the torch moments,

and that's what it felt like.

You're going to have an opportunity to work

with these three legends,

and you're going to be elevated because of it.

- This is about domination.

It's about being the best.

- I was wrestling once, twice a year, maybe, and I was so busy

with everything corporately that was so difficult to do.

But Seth made it so easy for me to do it.

- The experience working with Triple H at that point

became better, because it was the first time

we were really working on screen,

so I really got to learn a lot from him.

- Oh my God, Seth Rollins.

Spear by Reigns.

It's over.

Shield has defeated Evolution.

- They were doing the Shield

and fully rolling and all that stuff.

And I remember thinking to myself like,

"They're as hot as they're going to be.

And they were going to do what?

There was really no place else to go."

In case you haven't figured it out yet,

what I do better than anybody, is adapt.

Last night was Plan A,

tonight,

Plan B.

[crowd yells]

- What is going on here?

- Guy's on top of the world,

why in world would Seth Rollins do this?

- I knew it was going to hit hard because I knew how much

pain it was going to cause everybody watching at home.

- Are you kidding me?

Rollins now, he assaulting Ambrose.

- I think we often see these things coming,

and that was one of the times where it felt like so many

people were just in shock.

[crowd "Why? Why?"]

- You're Seth Rollins.

You turn on The Shield, who's now a beloved group.

You've got Triple H in the ring with you.

At this point, you're untouchable.

- Right.

- Yeah.

And Seth filled that role completely well

with he's the chosen one.

He's the-he's the guy.

Everybody hates that guy.

- I've got to be your guy.

I've got to be the face of this company.

Give me the opportunity.

[crowd chants "You sold out."]

- I am the one who created the Shield.

And I am the one who has destroyed it.

- When you're working with Triple H so closely,

you learn so much.

You learn to think of things not in terms of moves or action,

but in terms of story and moments.

- Pedigree

A Pedigree, that's Triple H's move.

Rollins used Triple H's Pedigree.

[bell rings]

- It only made sense to start using the Pedigree.

I was Triple H protege.

That was part of who I was at that time.

- There is only one man, a ring general like no other,

and he is the future of the WWE.

Seth Rollins.

When he was branching out of the Shield.

What do you do with that?

Do you just become another guy in the mix at the top.

Or do you become The guy?

- Look out.

- Stomp to Reigns.

Cover by Rollins.

Rollins wins the title.

Rollins wins the title.

- Wait a minute.

- Seth Rollins wins the title.

- Are you kidding me?

- Winning the championship was one of the most surreal moments

I've ever had in my entire life.

- Seth Rollins is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

[fireworks]

[clapping]

- Awesome

- Love you guys.

- That was so special, so incredible.

'cause that's my friend winning the world title

in the main event of WrestleMania.

I know how hard he's worked for it.

I know what it means to him.

What a moment.

- I wanted it to be the greatest title run of all time.

- The future is now,

and the future is the greatest champion of all time.

- You want somebody that will work harder than everybody else.

That man is Seth Rollins

- I think Triple H saw a bit of himself in Seth Rollins.

And I think-

Triple H took that time for Seth because he knew what he had.

- I'm looking for guys to lead this pack to lead the business.

It was wonderful to see.

- I'm the man, baby.

- It's awesome to watch Seth Rollins walk out of that ring

as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion,

but you can never take it for granted.

- The old adage of staying on top is much harder

than getting to the top is absolutely true.

I'm wrestling in Dublin, Ireland against Kane.

I had a table lined up behind Ol' Kane,

I was going to put him in.

The angle with which I came down was much more awkward

than what I was used to,

and I just blew my whole knee out.

Blew the whole thing.

ACL, MCL, meniscus.

The whole thing was gone.

That was it.

That was the end of my title run.

I had to go to Alabama and have surgery.

- This is a higher level knee injury

because he's a pretty high energy athlete, and

whenever you have that kind of high energy stuff,

the injuries are just greater.

- I have the utmost confidence that I can get back

and be better than ever,

but there's always that little whisper in the back of your head

that makes you wonder if, in fact, that's even possible.

- It's an ACL tear, plus a pretty bad meniscus tear,

plus a pretty bad MCL tear through both layers.

So definitely on the more severe end of knee ligament injuries.

- You know, coming off of Rollins's injury,

how devastating is it when you get hurt and you're champion?

- It's just hard when the company gives you the ball.

And when you look at somebody like Seth Rollins,

I mean, he wanted to run hard.

And you know, he couldn't have been more proud

to be a champion.

And then you get hurt.

You really feel like you're not just letting yourself down,

but you're just letting everyone down.

- There's a finite number of spots

- Right.

- You know, and you lose your spot.

- You feel at some point that-

the gods are against you.

You know, you think, "What in the world?

I finally made it to the freaking mountain

and I've been chopped off."

And then all of a sudden you're at home

and they move on without you.

And that's just the worst thing ever.

- It's the worst.

- It's so hard to sit there and watch.

- Yeah.

- Everybody moves on, though.

- Yeah, everyone moves on.

- That's the thing that like,

I've been in WWE for a minute and like,

everybody feels bad when it initially happens.

But like people, the wheel keeps spinning.

- You are looking live at the AT&T Stadium

in Dallas, Texas, a record crowd

of over 100,000 expected

for WrestleMania.

- Yeah, that was really hard for me.

Missing WrestleMania is one of the worst feelings

as a performer in our industry.

Coming off the previous year's WrestleMania,

I wanted to top that.

I wanted to go into WrestleMania as the champion.

Be on the marquee.

And once I went down,

I just knew that wasn't going to happen.

- Triple H, Roman Reigns main event.

- The injury obviously was unfortunate

and, you know, just a part of what we do.

- Here we go.

Come on haul ass.

Push pull, push pull, push pull.

There you go.

- Go.

- There you go.

- Good, kick.

- Keep going, keep going.

- I worked out on my knee, and-

I got cleared and all that,

but I didn't know how I was going to feel.

And I didn't know if I was ready for it.

And I had just been out of the game from November to May.

- You are looking,

live at a sold out Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

15,963 WWE fans are here sold out for Extreme Rules.

- I'm ready and I've done all the things I need to do

and got cleared and, uh, you know, tests and everything,

like, it still doesn't feel totally real.

Not knowing was a very scary feeling,

Not knowing whether my knee was going to hold up.

Not knowing whether the people would accept me.

- Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

It's Seth Rollins.

It's Seth Rollins, a Pedigree.

Seth Rollins is back.

Seth Rollins is here.

A Pedigree to the champion.

- Fans realized that as a performer,

Seth Rollins has become an essential part of WWE TV.

We miss Seth Rollins.

- Right when you thought you've seen it all,

- Seth Rollins returns with a vengeance.

- I'm baaack.

- Seth is a prime example of he was able to fight

through an injury, come back

and get right back to where he wanted to

Right back.

- Ever since Seth Rollins returned

from that almost career-ending knee injury,

his mindset has been the same.

"I carried this company and I will do it again.

I deserve to be Universal Champion."

- Seth goes through the process that it takes

to get another opportunity

at the Universal Championship.

I thought we were going to get kind of a repeat.

- Triple H

Triple H is going to help Rollins win the damn match.

- Not like this.

Not like this.

- I go, "Okay Triple H is going to once again

make sure that his guy,

Seth Rollins wins the Universal Championship."

- Any time you work closely with somebody side by side,

I think there's always the "Oh, well,

what about the other side of this thing?"

- What in the world?

- Wait a minute.

- No.

- Wait a minute.

- No.

- What the-

What is going on?

- It's got to be a great story to tell there.

- A Pedigree to Rollins.

- What is-

- Are you kidding me?

Are you kidding me?

- What in the world?

- Wait a minute.

- No.

- Wait a minute.

- No.

- What the-

What is going on?

- A Pedigree to Rollins.

- What is-

- Are you kidding me?

- In 2016, Rollins had just come back from his injury,

and this is when him and Triple H's rivalry kicked back up.

- Now Triple H is giving the Pedigree to Seth Rollins.

They clearly had fallen out of love with one another.

- This may be the most shocking moment

in Monday Night Raw history.

- I think it was something that the audience

was sort of clamoring for.

It allowed for us to do some unique things

from a story perspective.

Leading into WrestleMania allowed for us

to have an obvious story.

- Standing by my side,

Seth Rollins would become the man.

Sstanding by my side,

Seth Rollins would become the face of the WWE.

Standing by my side,

Seth Rollins would get everything he ever wanted

out of this business and more.

And all he had to do,

all Seth Rollins had to do,

was hold up his end of the bargain,

and he couldn't do it, could he?

Nah, his leg gave way,

and then he came in this ring and he handed back everything

that I had ever handed him.

When you could blur those lines,

all of that from a behind the scenes content

and everything else,

it just really worked.

- Welcome, everybody to NXT Takeover San Antonio.

- The thing about NXT that made it unique

was the talent that was down there,

the fact that it wasn't main roster talent.

- But one thing is for sure,

when you have two bulldozers who will block for you

and knock down anything in their path.

- Show's called Takeover, right?

Well, I'm taking this bitch over.

[crowd cheers]

- This is where it all started.

And I know, I know you are back there,

you are watching this.

You can see everything.

So, I am calling your ass out.

Right now, Triple H come on.

Let's do this thing.

- To see Seth essentially desecrate the sacred ground

that is NXT Takeover

to walk right in the door and take over the show.

That meant so much to Triple H in the past,

and that Triple H had built

over these years with countless hours of hard work.

That was a warning shot right there.

- Felt like crashing the fourth wall.

It felt like kicking down a door

that we're not supposed to get down.

He's in his role as NXT head.

He's an exec right now.

Oh, you think you're just going to put on a suit

and run this NXT show?

No, no, I'm going to see you there.

- It was Seth's idea.

Like, "Hey, what if I come to the Pay Per View for NXT

and we do something there and I won't get out of the ring

until you come out and face me,

and, you know, we can have security come out

and get you out of there or whatever."

There's a lot of really cool things to play with.

- It's no secret the history

between Triple H and Seth Rollins.

He's not going to stop until he gets his hands on The Game.

- Come on, come on.

- When you have somebody with the legacy that Triple H has,

him versus Seth Rollins was probably at the top of the list

of a match you'd hoped to see.

And of course it would have to happen at WrestleMania.

You know, where else could it?

- Do you want to see Seth Rollins face Triple H

at WrestleMania?

[crowd cheers]

- You already know who your creator is.

Well, then, Seth Rollins, get your ass to this ring

and meet your destroyer.

- Triple H calling out Seth Rollins.

- Seth said earlier he has nothing left to lose.

And it's only once you've lost everything-

- Oh what what

- Who the hell is-

Who the-

Oh my God

It's Samoan Joe.

Triple H's heavy.

Samoa Joe attacking and assaulting Seth Rollins.

- Triple H sucks me in.

There's Samoa Joe.

He wraps me in the choke and just takes me down.

The way my knee twisted underneath him, I felt it pop.

And there goes my knee again.

I thought it was gone.

That I was going to be out for another 6 to 9 months.

- Just when you think you're going to reach this culmination,

this story that you've been following,

real life can get in the way.

- Could not

[bleep] believe it.

- Yeah, you got him.

Are we really doing this again?

- I know me, if I got a sore throat and I gotta go out there

on stage, I'm like, "Ah," I'm hating life, you know?

And I can't even imagine what it would be like to suffer injuries

that would cripple an average person

and still have to function at those levels is-

is incredible.

- Injuries are really unfortunate part

of our business,

but it also makes you a superhero also.

You hate it at the time.

You hate going through all that rehab.

You hate missing TV.

That was your big moment.

But that's legendary stuff.

And sometimes when you have some bad thing like that happen,

you realize the character of some of these people.

- I could not believe it.

I was like, "There's no way I'm going to miss

another WrestleMania."

- I really think this may heal on its own with a brace,

so this may not be as bad as we thought.

- You just gave me some good news.

- Yeah, we're going to see.

- Somehow, some way only tore my MCL.

I say only, but I had to go in and religiously rehab

and couldn't compete in the ring,

so I was not in great shape.

So, not the way I envisioned riding into my first

WrestleMania back from my previous knee injury,

but gotta take the hand you're dealt.

- One thing about Seth

and he'll tough his way through something

if it's for the betterment of the product.

So while it was touch and go,

I don't think there was ever a doubt

that he'd put everything he had into it.

[Seth Rollins music]

[crowd cheers]

- Uh.

- No way.

- Yes way.

- Oh my God.

- Seth Rollins

Bad knee and all

is here on Raw.

- I don't know if this is the smartest decision

for Seth Rollins.

- Oh my God.

[crowd cheers]

- When Rollins drops those crutches and you see Triple H

turn white as a ghost.

- The Game wasn't expecting this.

And here comes Rollins.

Rollins is fired up.

- Seth Rollins will not let Triple H dictate his career.

- Those are those hero moments that the WWE is all about.

- Oh, no, bad knee.

- Triple H bent the steel crutch

on the injured knee of Seth Rollins.

- The prospect of wrestling Triple H anywhere,

whether it be a Pay Per View or television or WrestleMania,

it was very exciting to me.

Nerve wracking but exciting.

- If I draw up a hold harmless agreement for a non-sanctioned

match, that means that when I cripple Seth Rollins

that he can't sue me.

He can't sue my wife.

He can't sue the WWE.

- Seth Rollins can barely walk, and he's going to go

into a match against one of the greatest of all time

at WrestleMania?

He's insane.

- I wouldn't consider it a smart decision by any means,

but Seth is living by what his heart wants to do,

and that is destroy Triple H.

- I really got to learn a lot from Triple H.

I watched how he manipulated his character

and took a lot of mental notes

on what to do when I was out there.

That was a really valuable experience for me

and my development.

- When you sign this contract

and you step into the ring with me at WrestleMania,

Seth, I'm not going to stop at all.

I'm going to keep going until I destroy what I created.

You get one shot at life, Seth.

You take life and you grab it by the throat

and you make it give you everything you want

and screw everybody else.

- There's a real relationship there.

When there's real relationship,

there's real pain, there's real emotion.

And I think that comes across when you see two guys

talking to each other in the ring.

This is about redemption.

You understand that?

Not revenge, redemption.

Because I gave up everything to stand next to you.

And for what?

It's an honest conversation between people

who respect each other, but also in this particular setting,

don't like each other very much.

At WrestleMania,

you better be prepared to tear my leg off my body

and beat me with it,

because there will be nothing that can stop me

from getting back what matters most to me in my life,

and that's who I was before I met you.

[crowd cheers]

- It will be a night forever etched in history,

and legends will be born.

[crowd chants "WrestleMania"]

- It's a nice feeling to be back on the stage, you know,

to have a match at WrestleMania.

Last year was a rather disgruntling experience for me,

to put it mildly.

To be watching the show from a press box so,

being able to look out and kind of imagine how things

are going to play out tonight, it's uh, it's definitely cool.

I just hope my knee doesn't get tired out

before I get all the way down there.

- Getting to WrestleMania is the hardest thing imaginable.

Really, it is.

- Stressful.

- So getting there is a testament

to Seth Rollins and his ability and also the need for him.

We want this.

We've had this story and the different layers

and the different courses with it.

We've got to finish.

[Triple H's music]

- It is Seth Rollins going one on one

with his former mentor,

Triple H.

- Student versus teacher a match years

in the making.

- The fact that Seth and TripleH ultimately converged

was inevitable.

Triple H had done so much for Seth's career at this point

from the very beginning, but the ultimate test was

can the student now beat the master?

- I've seen this guy come in with a boatload of talent,

but then help him overcome things and watch him develop,

and I get to work with him at WrestleMania

on the biggest stage that there is

and have this moment with him,

it was magical to be able to do.

- Seth Rollins, one on one with Triple H.

And here we go.

Oh, that's the injured knee.

- Nice.

Do it again.

- It's WrestleMania 33 and Triple H

is finally facing Seth Rollins.

- Seth Rollins may never walk again.

- Those are two prime examples Triple H and Seth Rollins

of when the bell rings,

very consistent.

And that makes for a great, great rivalry.

- Triple H hell bent on destruction.

- That was tough, man.

That was a tough match.

I felt a lot of pressure.

- Oh.

- I was so focused on staying healthy.

- Rollins tries to fight back.

Desperation mode.

- We have this awesome opportunity.

And I knew it's going to be big.

It was so cool to do and to be a part of.

- Guts over fear.

- Launches himself onto Triple H and the knee again.

- Seth puts so much pressure on himself.

He hates disappointing the fans.

- Rollins Frog Splash.

Here's the cover.

Can he beat The Game?

Oh, and a kick out of two and a half.

- Even with one knee down, an arm missing,

three toes gone off his foot.

Somehow he will steal the show.

- This has been nothing

short of a Herculean effort from Seth Rollins.

- WWE is like live action adventure soap opera.

- Oh yeah, there's Stephanie on the apron.

Stephanie on the apron.

- And when you're going to get to watch somebody that

you really dislike,

who resembles an authority figure in your life,

get their butt kicked.-

- Oh my gosh.

[crowd cheers]

- Oh Triple H.

- -you're that much more invested.

- And now Rollins

with a Pedigree,

takes advantage.

Can he do it?

The king slayer.

Somehow, bad knee and all Seth Rollins has taken out The Game.

- The moments that I was able to share with Seth.

It's irreplaceable.

We'll have a bond forever because of that.

- Um,

I honestly can't-I can't begin to put it into words.

Um, the whole night.

The whole-

whole last two months have just been such

an up and down whirlwind between uh-

you know, wondering

if you're ever going to be able to wrestle again.

To be out there in front of all those people again.

You know, with the man who was your mentor um-

you know, love him or hate him ah,

you know, we've been through a lot together,

and I got on some level, a lot of respect for him

and a-

it was very special, special moment out there for me.

Just-just to be out there.

Uh, the win was a nice feather in the cap though.

Those years of my life were

Crazy man.

The story with Triple H was emotionally taxing,

and then I start to question my body, you know, is it me?

Am I breaking down?

Am I just not built for this?

Is this the end of my career?

Like all of these sorts of things cross your mind

and to be able to bully your way through all of that.

And then to get on the other side of it.

It was a very interesting experience

in my development as a performer, but also as a human,

as a person, and where I wanted to go from here.

- I am a visionary.

I am a revolutionary.

I am Seth 'Freakin'

[crowd "Rollins"]

- The Seth Rollins we have today is the most consistent.

He's a locker room leader.

- Rollins being serenaded by the WWE universe.

- It's so cool to see not only everything come full circle

between Seth and Triple H, but Seth finally got to live up to

what Triple H envisioned for him from the very start.

The vision came to life

and it exceeded everybody's expectations.

- The main event starts right now

with the brand new World Heavyweight Championship.

Stomp.

Rollins the cover.

Seth Rollins is your new World Heavyweight champion.

as Triple H is here tonight.

- It-

It felt very much like a full circle moment

at Night of Champions.

Almost like a wormhole back in time to NXT,

to that first championship match,

to him being there to raise my hand.

It was very surreal.

I think he said something to me along the lines of,

"We've come a long way" when we were in there together.

Couldn't have meant more that it was us.

A whole decade later, pushing the industry forward

one more time.

- Your own career is big, right?

And it means so much to you

and you're so driven to do it.

But I could have never imagined somebody else's success

could be that meaningful to me,

and I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Seth

because of all of that.

- There is no Seth Rollins without Triple H.

He is like my wrestling father.

I needed someone to be hard on me.

I needed someone to believe in me.

Thank you.

And that mentorship is something

that I will always treasure.

And something that I hope I can pass along.

If I can be a Triple H to somebody's Seth Rollins, then,

I will have done right by him.